A Home Away From Home for Portugal's Players

A special effort will be made to ensure that Portugal's soccer stars don't miss home too much, particularly in their diet, when they come to Germany for the World Cup in June. The national team's top chef Helio Loureiro is banking on chicken soup and wine to recreate a familiar culinary atmosphere for Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the team.

"We'll serve a good chicken soup to give them strength and a feeling of home. When it comes to nutritive value, the chicken soup may not be ideal, but it's a dish that keeps you warm and is pleasant," Loureiro told Portuguese daily 24Horas. "We're going to provide the players with what's physically and even spiritually necessary," he added.

The Portuguese chef said that wine too was part of the holistic diet. "Only on days when there are games to be played, we'll do without wine. But taken in moderation, it's a rich and good drink that shouldn't be used to quench your thirst but to stem your need for it," Loureiro, who's worked as chef for the past eight years for the Portuguese soccer national team, said.